All Judgment Is His

In our search for the truth of the Bible, we have learned an important principle in prophetic interpretation. The determination for whether an Old Testament prophecy is, in-fact, speaking of the Messiah; rests squarely on whether a counterpart may be found in the New Testament. Here, Isaiah 45:23 speaks of God’s declaration that every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath to God. Paul, in writing to the Philippians regarding Jesus Christ, stated that although He was God, He humbled Himself and took the form of a servant, even surrendering His life—to die for our sins.

Because of this sacrifice that Jesus has made, His name has been exalted higher than any other name so that every knee will bow to Him, every tongue will confess that He is Lord. In making this statement, Paul is affirming that Jesus is the one to whom Isaiah was speaking of and affirming that He is the Messiah.

Today men and women are given the supreme honor of bowing their knee to Jesus Christ, by their own act of willing submission. We do this, not out of compulsion or guilt—but willingly, because He is worthy of our complete submission. The time will come, however, when all people will be required to bow their knees to Jesus, by force, if necessary. Every person will be made to surrender because Jesus is worthy of all honor and glory.

The Messiah shall be given all authority to judge, and every knee will bow to Him.

Old Testament Prediction:

Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.

New Testament Fulfillment:

Romans 14:11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Principles of Judgement

Many people mistakenly assume by the present inaction of God to judge their sins that God’s love will not allow Him to condemn them, ever.

The God of the Bible is the embodiment of love. He is the reason that love exists at all. He is also a God of justice and He cannot permit sin to go unpunished forever. The Lord has appointed a time in which He will judge every thought, word, and deed of all people. Those who have placed themselves under the saving power of Jesus sacrifice will be found “not guilty.” People who stubbornly refuse to submit their lives to Jesus and rest their sins squarely on His sacrifice, will bear the penalty for those sins themselves.

To bow the knee is an absolute requirement

Since the cross, where Jesus made atonement for the sins of the whole world, the forgiveness of sin and a full pardon from God for all past wrongs is available to anyone who willingly comes to God. In order to receive His forgiveness—first, the knee must bow to Jesus as Lord, then an acknowledgement is made that He is the only Savior. Bowing of the knee and the heart are two necessary fundamentals of true repentance. God will accept nothing less than the absolute surrender of the life that He is going to save. The bowing of the knee is seen as the visual evidence that the heart has been humbled and is repentant and ready to submit to Jesus’ authority. Without repentance and a submission to Jesus as Savior and Lord, there can be no forgiveness of sin or eternal life.

Many will bow the knee but not the heart

At the end of the seven-year Tribulation, when Jesus returns to earth with His church, He will set up the kingdom promised to David that many of the Old Testament prophecies describe. All the earth will be required to bow their knee to Jesus in submission to His authority, without dispute or right of appeal. Jesus has earned this right by His death and resurrection in defeating sin and death forever.

There will be many during this one thousand-year reign who will bow their knee but not their heart. They will submit to Jesus’ authority outwardly; but in the heart, they will remain in rebellion.

At the end of the one thousand years, satan who has been kept in chains; will be released for a short time to gather all those whose hearts are in defiance towards Jesus (Revelation 20). In this, we learn that one of the purposes in God allowing satan’s continued existence is to manifest the true hearts of people who have a predisposition towards rebellion against God. All of those who join satan in this final rebellion will be dispatched to the Lake of Fire, forever.[1]

The devil is chained for 1,000 years

Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

All those who die without Christ await judgment

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead (unsaved) did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

The Bible is very specific in that those who refuse to accept God’s offer of forgiveness, through Jesus’ sacrifice, and then die—have no second chance at salvation after their death.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…

If a person dies without Christ, he is held in hell with all others who have refused Jesus as their Savior. They will all await their judgment at the end of the one thousand-year reign of Jesus when they will be raised from the dead to stand before the Great White Throne of God (Revelation 20:11). Their judgment will be based on their own insufficient works for salvation instead of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice which made salvation certain.

At the end of the 1,000 years, satan is released to gather the rebellious

The true heart of those who bowed their knees but not their will to Jesus during the one thousand years will be manifested by the release of satan, who will gather all the rebellious to fight against the Lord. God will supernaturally destroy this entire army of recalcitrants and end their defiance, once and for all, along with satan and his demons.

Revelation 20:7-14 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Forgiveness and salvation have an expiration date

God has appointed a limited time in which He will withhold judgment and allow the opportunity for repentance. The Lord has appointed a time-certain in which He will judge sin and assign all those who remained unrepentant—to hell. We should never mistake the present lack of action by God as an indication that He will not judge in the future. The purpose for God presently withholding judgment is to allow time for people to change their minds and come to Jesus. We all live in a period of grace in which we may repent and be saved. We must nevertheless remember that judgement will come against all sin and rebellion in the future.

2 Peter 3:5-7 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Since God has, on two former occasions, destroyed the earth for sin; He will certainly destroy the earth one final time because of sin. At Genesis Chapter one, we see that God originally created the earth to be good and created it to be inhabited.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:

I believe that it is a mistake to assume that because Adam was created by God about 6,000 years ago, that this is also the age of the earth. Although the theory of a young earth is widely held today by many learned and wise people who believe in the Bible as the word of God, it is not certain from the Bible that we can prove conclusively that the earth is young; in fact, the opposite may be true.

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The term In the beginning is translated from the Hebrew, bere’shith, a starting place for creation and the beginning of time.[2] Before God created the heavens and the earth, time did not exist. In the Hebrew construction of this first verse—as God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, so also will He create the heavens and the earth at the end.

Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

The statement In the beginning, re’shith in Hebrew, is a declaration for a starting place of specific duration. The beginning of the Hebrew year is called re’shith hashshanah; the end of the year is called aharit shanah.

Deuteronomy 11:12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year (re’shith hashshanah) to the very end of the year (aharit shanah).

For the person who speaks and understands Hebrew, the text from Genesis 1:1 is clear. God is making a declaration of His creation, but He is also making a statement about the end of time or the last days: “As things are at the beginning, they will be at the end.”

It is interesting, the manner in which the Bible is constructed. God is describing how creation came into being, what happened to His perfect creation, and how He will redeem it again to its former glory. Each one of the depictions, describe prophetically; how God will accomplish these things. The Lord is not only telling us what He has done; He is declaring to us what He will do in the future.

As God created the heavens and the earth at the beginning of time, space, and matter, so also will He create these things again at the end of the current duration of time, space, and matter. The literal idea of Genesis 1:1 is that “the last things will be as the first things.” God is predicting the future, at the beginning of the Bible, in the very first verse.

Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation Chapter 21:1 are identical in their declarations:

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Genesis declares the beginning of creation; Isaiah declares the prophetic intent of creation, to remake all creation again, perfect and without sin; Revelation reveals when this new creation will occur; at the end of the age.

The primary intent of God’s declaration of creation, in Genesis 1:1, is to predict the end, when the last shall be as the first, a new heavens and a new earth, perfect and good.

Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

The fact that the land was covered with water and darkness, and we are informed of this condition; defines this event—apart from the good creation God had made.

2 Peter Chapter 3 describes the principle that men forget that it was by the word of the Lord that the heavens were created, then the earth was standing out of water, then it was covered again with water.

2 Peter 3:5-6 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old (Genesis 1:1 at creation), and the earth standing out of water and (then again in Genesis 1:2) in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

Scholars have assumed that this verse is speaking of the great flood of Noah. The problem with this assumption is that these verses of scripture do not specify that particular flood. There is not a single inference to Noah or the flood that occurred at that time in the entire context of Peter’s description of the judgment of God that destroyed the earth by water.

Peter’s words are a fitting description for what may have occurred in Genesis 1:2.

Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

2 Peter 3:5-6 …the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

The term deep, in Genesis 1:2, is a reference to the deep water that covered the earth, that prevented light and life from being seen. There are many occurrences in the Old Testament where the judgement of God is exhibited by the use of water.

Judgment of the world

Genesis 7:17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

Judgement against Egypt

Exodus 7:17 Thus says the LORD: “By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.

Exodus 14:28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

Judgment at Marah

Exodus 15:23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.

Judgement of the Amorites

Joshua 5:1 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

Judgment of the earth, described by David

2 Samuel 22:8-16 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 10 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness around him his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. 13 Out of the brightness before him coals of fire flamed forth. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. (ESV)

Here, David acting in the capacity of a prophet, describes the earth under a judgement of God, covered with darkness and water—which is identical to the context of Genesis 1:2 when God covered the earth with water and it became formless and void.

This is just a few examples from the scriptures that we could use to make the case that Genesis 1:2 could certainly be a reference to a previous judgment of God. There is far more evidence to reach this conclusion than there is to determine that this is simply a statement of the earth before it was ready for man.

When did the fall of Lucifer take place?

We must remember that the fall of Lucifer is an established fact. This fall occurred before Adam was created, for He is seen in a fallen state in the Garden when Adam and Eve are tempted to eat of the fruit.[3] In the book of Job, God tells us that when He created the heavens and the earth, the angels were already in existence, shouting praised to God in response to His creation.[4]

Where do we place the fall of Lucifer in the chronology of the earth if not in the distant past, before Adam was created? The judgment of Lucifer was not limited to heaven only, it also affected the earth as Lucifer was a prince here before Adam was created.[5] God describes Lucifer as responsible for the earth becoming a wilderness, and destroying all its cities.[6] When did all of this occur? I submit that it is reasonable, from the scriptures, that we understand this fall took place before the six days of Genesis 1:3-31, when God restored the earth, after having taken it out of darkness when it had been destroyed in judgement; at a time in great distance from Adam’s creation.

When God creates, it is alway good

God does not make things that are not good and then cause them to be good. When God creates, it is always perfect and good at the beginning. The fact that we see a creation of God which is described as formless and void is an indication that something occurred after God created the earth as good and ready for inhabitation.

God describes everything He made as very good.

Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

To imply that God made the heavens and the earth and they were in a formless and useless condition (not ready), then God made them good, is a contradiction of all other statements of God’s creation in the Bible. Further, if this was true; the earth was formless before He made it ready; we don’t need to know about this. God doesn’t tell us about all the other fine details of how He made the universe, why just this one point, regarding the earth? The fact that God takes the time to tell us that the earth was without form and void, requires us to acknowledge that He has a reason for telling us this fact. Whatever the Lord creates it is always good from the beginning. God did not create Adam in a rough form and then refine him. Adam was created perfect, as was Lucifer—perfect from the day of their creation.

Ezekiel 28: 5 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

When God creates, it is perfect from the beginning. Lucifer was perfect until he initiated sin that caused what God had made to no longer be perfect and good. The fact that Genesis 1:2 describes an earth, which was or became formless and void; demands that something had occurred to cause this condition. This appears to be the entire reason that God mentions this detail in Genesis 1:2.

We misrepresent God in His perfection and power when we state that “in the beginning He created the heavens and the earth,” but the earth was created formless and void and God had to refine it and make it inhabitable for man.

When God created the earth, he made it ready for inhabitation from the beginning.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, …Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited…

The fact that Genesis 1:2 states that the earth became formless and void, is a statement of judgement by God. Something cataclysmic may have happened to His original creation on earth, requiring God’s judgement and placement of the earth into a formless and void condition.

Most Biblical scholars will agree that Genesis 1:2 is a statement by God that the earth was formless and void before God made it good. What seems to be missing from the conclusions of many good men is that God does not make things formless (tohu) and void.

Not ready, state

It may be an error to state that Genesis 1:2 is describing the earth before God took it from being formless and void and made it inhabitable for people. If this were true, why are there no statements similar in describing the formation of the universe? Verse 1 of Genesis states that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. The earth was already in existence and inhabitable, before verse 2 begins a short narrative describing a formless earth. It is possible that the fall of Lucifer and the kingdom that he ruled over on the earth, was destroyed as a result of his rebellion against God.

Isaiah 14:12-17 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregationOn the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities…

The question we must ask regarding this text from Isaiah is: where is it ever recorded in the Bible that Lucifer destroyed any city on the earth? Here Isaiah says that Lucifer made the “earth” as a wilderness.” Lucifer fell and was cast out of heaven and became the serpent, long before Adam was created. By this verse from Isaiah, we learn that Lucifer fell and the earth became a wilderness and the cities that were present during that time, were also destroyed. This fall of Lucifer occurred before Adam was created. What cities are being described on earth, by God, that Lucifer destroyed?

The remainder of Genesis Chapter 1:3-31 tells us the story of a recreative work of God on the earth which was in a state of emptiness. The restoration of the earth took seven literal twenty-four hour days. These verses do not describe the creation of the entire universe, but events that were limited to earth. The light that is seen on earth, comes from the sun which had already been created but was not visible on the earth because the planet was covered with water and had no land or atmosphere that allowed the light to be seen. As God brings that land up out of the waters and defines boundaries for the water, He makes an atmosphere whereby the sun can be seen, then the light appears on the earth. This allows the seeds which are already present on the earth to spring forth, and the creation of animals and man is made possible.

Deuteronomy 32:10 is commonly used by those in opposition to the Genesis 1:2 position that the earth became formless and void. Their opinion is that the term empty (tohu) in Isaiah 45:18; God did not create the land to be empty (tohu) but made it to be inhabited, carries the same meaning of Deuteronomy 32:10, where formless, also tohu is used to describe a wasteland and uninhabited desert.

Deuteronomy 32:1-13 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass. 3 For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. 5 They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, Because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation. 6 Do you thus deal with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you? 7 Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you: 8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, 12 So the LORD alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him. 13 He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock…”

What is interesting about Deuteronomy 32, when we read the entire context of these verses, we see that God is seen as the Creator, and in verse 4, all His work is described as perfect. Verse 5 describes how man corrupts what God has made, and this leads to the conclusion of verse 10, where man is found in an empty and uninhabited desert.

When the entirety of Deuteronomy 32 is read, it brings us to the exact same conclusion that we reach when we read Genesis 1:1-2 and Isaiah 45:18. God created the heavens and the earth; they were perfect and ready to be inhabited. The reasonable conclusion is, they would be immediately inhabited. Something happened that changed what was perfect and caused God to judge the world and make it formless and void.

This is what Peter was describing:

…by the word of God the heavens were of old (Genesis 1:1 at creation), and the earth standing out of water and (then again in Genesis 1:2) in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.[7]

In Genesis 1:3-31, God describes for us the six days in which He brought the earth out of this judgment—from formless and void and made the earth good once again. Of course the rest of the story is that after God placed Adam on the earth, he and Eve, by their sin, placed the earth in further judgment which would end, once again in the total destruction of the earth. Finally, at the end of the age, God will create a new heaven and earth that would once again be perfect and good from the moment that God created it.

Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

We see repeated examples in the Old Testament for periods of time when the people of God disobey Him and the land (ha’ares) becomes uninhabitable (tohu), as the people are sent in exile to other nations. This is precisely what happened in Genesis 1:2. Something occurred that caused God to make the earth uninhabitable.

Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”

Notice how in verse 22, the Lord relates the foolishness and sin of Israel to the following verses in Jeremiah 4:23-26. Here Jeremiah is describing the precise events of Genesis 1:2 in the exact same language that Moses wrote to depict the earth becoming without form and void because of sin. Jeremiah describes the earth in a state of ruin. There was no man, the birds had fled, and all the cities were destroyed. This is certainly a reference to Genesis 1:2 and what occurred on the earth when it became formless and void.

Jeremiah 4:23-26 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. 25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. 26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the LORD, By His fierce anger.

This is an amazing description by Jeremiah of the events of Genesis 1:2 which give us greater detail than we find anywhere else in the Bible.

1. The earth was without form and void.
2. There was no light.
3. The mountains and hills were moved.
4. There was no man.
5. The birds had fled.
6. The once fruitful land was a wilderness.
7. All the cities were broken down.

All this happened at the fierce anger of the Lord.

What is most compelling regarding these verses from Jeremiah is that they depict the precise events of Genesis 1:2.

Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Jeremiah 4:23-26 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light.

Jeremiah describes Israel as a wilderness by a direct act of God. He relates the events of Genesis 1:2 to the sin of disobedience that Israel committed against God which caused the Lord to make Israel a desolation. It is possible that Jeremiah’s description is a reflection of the same sin of disobedience which occurred on the earth before man was created, when Lucifer sought to elevate his authority above that of God and was cast out of heaven.

For more information regarding the creation of the universe and the earth by God, please see the chapter: Creator.

For the past 6,000 years since the creation of man and his fall, God has patiently waited for all people to receive the promise of His coming Messiah. All of the descendants of Adam—up to the arrival of Jesus, were saved by looking forward to the coming Messiah. Those from the time Jesus completed His sacrifice for sin—up to the present day, are saved by looking back to Jesus’ sacrifice. In the end, all people are saved in precisely the same way; the blood of Jesus Christ. No one will make it to heaven who has not had their sins cleansed by Jesus’ sacrifice.

The authority for rulership that has been given to Jesus as the Messiah is the subject of this prophecy. Isaiah 45:23 reports that every knee will bow to the Messiah, and His rulership over the earth will be absolute. Jesus has secured this right to rule the earth by defeating satan at the cross and His exaltation above every other being.

All those who live on the earth as human beings have the supreme privilege to willingly bowing their knee to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior today. Isaiah prophesies that a day is coming when the knees of even the rebellious and the haters of Jesus will bow their knee and give to Him the glory and dominion that is rightfully His, forever.

For those who die as infants (in the womb or out), those who are adolescents or are without the mental capacity to understand sin or their need for a Savior, the atonement of Jesus’ sacrifice, having already paid for their sins; will cover them by the Grace and Mercy of God and they will all make it to heaven.[8]

Those who have never heard of Jesus Christ will still be without excuse because they knew that God exists by the things that He has made.

Romans 1:20-21 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

This is the second witness against unbelief which God has placed internally in the heart of man. We are “hardwired” at our creation with an inner knowledge that there is a God. The evidence of this is seen in the universal desire of all people all over the world to worship.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

All people understand that sin is wrong, and they carry the proof of this knowledge by a guilty conscience. In even the most remote villages found on the earth where no one has been told about Jesus Christ, people are found to have an awareness of their sin and a desire to do something about it. This knowledge of God and the awareness of sin’s guilt has been spiritually wired into the soul of every person by God. It is this knowledge that exists in all persons, which God will use to judge whether these remote people who live in isolated areas of the world are worthy of eternal life or disqualified from obtaining it.

If a person responds to this inner knowledge that God exists and turns towards Him in sorrow for his sins; those sins will be placed under the blood of Jesus Christ and he will be granted eternal life. God is not unfair nor unjust to consign a person to hell who has only limited knowledge of all that God requires or has done to put away sin. Even the slightest movement towards God, in repentance; will be enough for God to grant that person eternal life.

We see evidence of this from one of the two thieves who were being crucified next to Jesus. This thief had no opportunity for any good work, no completion of baptism or membership in any church; yet upon his simple statement: Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom, Jesus told him: Today you will be with me in paradise. We do not read any words from this thief that would lead us to believe that he was repentant or wanted to be saved, but Jesus was able to see into his heart and knew that both had occurred.

2 Timothy 4:1 …the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.

As with Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 45:23, Jesus as the Messiah will have the final say on the eternal state of every person. It is with certainty that having given His life for the sins of all people, for all time; Jesus will quickly forgive and grant eternal life to anyone who makes even the slightest movement towards Him in sincerity and humility. Those who stubbornly refuse to give Jesus His rightful place in their heart and in rulership over their life, will in the end; still bow their knees to Him. As Jesus is finally seen in His full glory and majesty on the earth once again, everyone will fall to their knees in humble submission to His great light and power.

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[1] Revelation 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
[2] Strong’s #7225, Hebrew Lexicon for the Old Testament.
[3] Genesis 3
[4] Job 38:7
[5] Ezekiel 28:2
[6] Isaiah 14:17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities
[7] 2 Peter 3:5-6
[8] This is my personal opinion based on the body of evidence presented in the Bible.